How to write a psychopath?

August 17, 2018

How to write a psychopath?

Among us, there is a psychopath walking down the street or sitting on a bus it could be anyone and once, in our lives, we have encountered a psychopath.

Why not write one? It could be a serial killer who’s pushing your main character to the limit. A heroine who feels in love with the man of her dreams but lurks emotional connection. It can be the controlling boss or a neighbor. It’s good to understand the signs of what makes a psychopath.

Here are top five tips on how to write a psychopath

They are charming.

They pretend to like people. Lavish them with compliments and some will fail to see through them. Psychopaths will go out of their way to have what they want so when constructing your psychopath bear this in mind.

Self-importance.

Psychopaths love themselves and they make their importance known. Even if nobody loves them. They think they excel in everything they do. It is likely they take credit for other people’s work thinking about it; I had a shop manager who used to do this. The world revolves around them, not around others.

They like being in control.

Next tip in how to write a psychopath. They love being in control. Know someone who is a control freak, I do, now multiply it by a thousand. They immaculate planners think of Amy Dunne in Gone Girl. The level of planning she went through just to frame her husband because of his infidelity when she could easily divorce him is unbelievable. They take years plotting and they get the kick out of their revenge so they have what they want.

They are good liars.

As they are manipulative, psychopaths make excellent lairs. With their lack of empathy nor forming any emotional connection nor building relationship, they don’t think how another person would feel about being lied to even after they found out.

Don’t confuse psychopaths with sociopaths.

Last on the list how to write a psychopath it’s good to know the difference between the two. As I said, Amy Dunne of Gone Girl is a classic example of a psychopath while Alex of the Clock Orange is a sociopath. Bear in mind not all psychopaths or sociopaths are serial killers.